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Engineering, Building, and Architecture

Not many museums collect houses. The National Museum of American History has four, as well as two outbuildings, 11 rooms, an elevator, many building components, and some architectural elements from the White House. Drafting manuals are supplemented by many prints of buildings and other architectural subjects. The breadth of the museum's collections adds some surprising objects to these holdings, such as fans, purses, handkerchiefs, T-shirts, and other objects bearing images of buildings.

The engineering artifacts document the history of civil and mechanical engineering in the United States. So far, the Museum has declined to collect dams, skyscrapers, and bridges, but these and other important engineering achievements are preserved through blueprints, drawings, models, photographs, sketches, paintings, technical reports, and field notes.

In places that required many clocks—factories, office and public buildings, or schools—time was often distributed by a system of "master" and "slave" clocks. In such a system, a central timekeeper, the master clock, sent periodic impulses, usually electric or pneumatic, to any number of secondary or slave clocks. These slave clocks could be located anywhere, without regard for convenience of winding, because they needed none. The master clock could also drive other time signals like classroom bells, factory whistles, or time stamps. More economical to install and more convenient to maintain than an equal number of independent clocks, the system also ensured that all dials within the system agreed.

The museum collection contains such a timekeeping system. The system's master clock (Cat. 310,569), built by E. Howard and Company of Boston, is a mechanical tower clock movement equipped with electrical contacts. Once a minute the escapement, through a pair of rotary switches, closes an electrical circuit and sends an impulse to the slave dial (Cat. 310,570), where electromagnets advance the hands. Batteries at the base of the master clock supply current.

This clock and dial were components of a system that served the Smithsonian between about 1881 and 1932. First housed in the north tower of the Arts and Industries Building, the clock movement distributed impulses to eighteen dials in that building and the Castle, the Smithsonian's earliest building. Tunnels under the floors carried the wiring. The clock room also housed a telephone switchboard, a watchman's clock, a central burglar alarm, and call bells—all of which, like the time distribution system, relied on the newly harnessed power of electricity. "Indeed," boasted the Smithsonian's annual report for 1881, "it is believed that in no building in the world, with the exception of the Grand Opera House in Paris, is there so perfect and complete an application of electricity to practical services."

This planimeter moves on two German silver rollers. The roller on the left rotates a steel wheel that in turn rotates an axle, which turns the measuring wheel and registering dial. The measuring wheel has a vernier. All three parts are made of white plastic. A piece of leather on a string is placed between the steel wheel and the axle when the instrument is stored.

The twelve-inch rectangular German silver tracer arm is attached to a bronzed brass carriage below the measuring wheel and between the rollers. It has a brass tracer with steel point and support. The length of the arm is adjustable, and it is evenly divided to 0.5mm and numbered from 10 to 64. An extension for the tracer arm adds ten inches to its length and is numbered from 65 to 110.

Above the roller on the left is marked: F. Weber & Co (/) Philadelphia. Above the roller on the right is marked: G. Coradi, Zürich (/) Switzerland (/) No 3811. An oblong German silver testing rule is marked for 0", 1", 2", 3", and 4". It is also marked: G. Coradi. Zurich.

A fitted wooden case covered with black morocco leather is lined with purple velvet. A brush is in the corner of the case. A printed calibration chart glued inside the lid has columns for Scales, Position of the vernier on the tracer bar, and Value of the unit of the vernier on the measuring roller. The values in the Position column are handwritten. A paragraph explains how to effectively use and care for the instrument. The date on the chart indicates that the Coradi firm made serial number 3,811 on May 14, 1914. Another piece of paper glued inside the lid explains how to safely remove the instrument from the case. The case's key is on a string inside the case.

The Zurich workshop of Gottlieb Coradi (1847–1929) made a variety of planimeters, beginning in the early 1880s, with the rolling sphere form debuting around 1900. According to a 1915 catalog, Coradi sold this size of rolling sphere planimeter as model 32. F. Weber & Company was founded in Philadelphia in 1853 and took that name in 1887. It is best known for manufacturing and distributing art products. Other American firms, such as Keuffel & Esser, also distributed Coradi's precision disc planimeter. K&E sold this size as model 4262 for $95.00 from 1900 to 1915. Compare to MA*333660. 1977.0112.02 is an instruction manual.

The citation information for this 40-page booklet is: G. Coradi, The Coradi Planimeters: Description and Instructions for the Use and Testing, with a General Elementary Explanation of Their Operation (Zurich, 1912). Gottlieb Coradi (1847–1929) established a workshop in Zurich in 1880 and began making wheel and disc polar planimeters in the Amsler style soon thereafter. In 1894, he designed the compensating polar planimeter, and by 1900, his firm was selling a precision rolling planimeter.

This booklet explains the mathematical theory behind planimeters, which are used to measure the area bounded by a curved diagram. Coradi then describes the general parts of a planimeter and provides instructions for the forms manufactured by his workshop: the rolling sphere planimeter (see MA*333660 and 1977.0112.01), the precision disc planimeter (see MA*321745), and the compensating polar planimeter (see 1987.0929.01 and MA*321777). Olaus Henrici (1840–1918), a German mathematician who taught at English universities, helped Coradi prepare the booklet.

The donor also provided three Coradi pamphlets on the coordinatograph, an instrument for quickly plotting points on a map according to their rectangular coordinates. According to the illustrations at the back of this booklet, Coradi's firm also made integraphs and pantographs.

References: "People: Gottlieb Coradi," Waywiser, Harvard University Department of the History of Science, http://dssmhi1.fas.harvard.edu/emuseumdev/code/eMuseum.asp?lang=EN; Olaus Henrici, "On Planimeters," in Report of the Sixty-fourth Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (London, 1894), 496–523.

This nickel-plated instrument forms a U and is hinged around a brass measuring wheel and vernier. A cylindrical weight fits over a peg at the end of the pole arm. The plating has worn away from the handle for the tracer point. The tracer arm is stamped with a serial number: 5337. An oblong wooden case covered with black leather is lined with dark blue velvet. The top of the case is marked: AMERICAN (/) SCHAEFFER & BUDENBERG. These words are in an oval around the company logo of a globe and the words: BROOKLYN, N.Y. A torn red and white sticker on the bottom of the case originally read: UNIVERSITY OF (/) CINCINNATI (/) 33893. Compare to 1981.0301.03 and 1981.0301.04.

In 1923 the American Steam Gauge & Valve Manufacturing Company, the Hohmann-Nelson Company, and the American division of the Schäffer & Budenberg Manufacturing Company merged to form American Schaeffer & Budenberg Corporation. The first and third companies were known for their planimeters as well as their steam-engine indicators, but American had made this particular instrument since the late 19th century, while Schäffer & Budenberg was associated with the Coffin planimeter. See MA*323706. The merged firm may have been purchased by Manning, Maxwell, and Moore in the late 1930s. The department of mechanical engineering laboratory at the University of Cincinnati owned this instrument.

This nickel-plated instrument forms a U and is hinged around a brass measuring wheel and vernier. A cylindrical weight fits over a peg at the end of the pole arm. The plating has worn away from the handle for the tracer point. The tracer arm is stamped with a serial number: 5457. An oblong wooden case covered with black leather is lined with dark blue velvet. The top of the case is marked: AMERICAN (/) AMSLER POLAR PLANIMETER. A torn red and white sticker on the bottom of the case originally read: UNIVERSITY OF (/) CINCINNATI (/) 33894. Compare to 1981.0301.02 and 1981.0301.04; the serial number suggests this object is the youngest of the three instruments.

The American Steam Gauge Company, a Boston firm, was founded in 1851, incorporated in 1854, and re-incorporated around 1902 with the name American Steam Gauge & Valve Manufacturing Company. According to the company catalog, James W. See, an Ohio engineer, designed the first Amsler-style planimeter in the United States, and by 1879 American Steam Gauge began manufacturing it as the American Amsler's Polar Planimeter. In 1896, it sold with the case for $15.00. In 1923 American Steam Gauge, the Hohmann-Nelson Company, and the American division of the Schäffer & Budenberg Manufacturing Company merged to form American Schaeffer & Budenberg Corporation.

References: "People: American Steam Gauge Company," Waywiser, Harvard University Department of the History of Science, http://dssmhi1.fas.harvard.edu/emuseumdev/code/eMuseum.asp?lang=EN; American Steam Gauge Company, catalog (Boston, 1896), 130–135; Thomas Pray, Jr., Twenty Years with the Indicator: Being a Practical Text-book for the Engineer or the Student (Boston: American Steam Gauge & Valve Mfg. Co., 1909), 286.

This tarnished nickel-plated instrument forms a U and is hinged around a brass measuring wheel and vernier. A cylindrical weight fits over a peg at the end of the pole arm. The plating has worn away from the handle for the tracer point. The tracer arm is stamped with a serial number: 4346. An oblong wooden case covered with black leather is lined with purple velvet. The top of the case is marked: MANUFACTURED BY (/) American Steam Gauge & Valve Mfg. Co. (/) BOSTON, MASS. A brass plate screwed to the top of the case has an inventory number for the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Cincinnati, the donor of this object: 4P7. A torn red and white sticker on the bottom of the case originally read: UNIVERSITY OF (/) CINCINNATI (/) 33895. Compare to 1981.0301.02 and 1981.0301.03; the serial number suggests this object is the oldest of the three instruments.

The American Steam Gauge Company was founded in Boston in 1851, incorporated in 1854, and re-incorporated around 1902 with the name American Steam Gauge & Valve Manufacturing Company. According to the company catalog, James W. See, an Ohio engineer, designed the first Amsler-style planimeter in the United States. By 1879 American Steam Gauge began manufacturing it as the American Amsler's Polar Planimeter. In 1896 it sold with the case for $15.00. In 1923, American Steam Gauge, the Hohmann-Nelson Company, and the American division of the Schäffer & Budenberg Manufacturing Company merged to form American Schaeffer & Budenberg Corporation.

References: "People: American Steam Gauge Company," Waywiser, Harvard University Department of the History of Science, http://dssmhi1.fas.harvard.edu/emuseumdev/code/eMuseum.asp?lang=EN; American Steam Gauge Company, catalog (Boston, 1896), 130–135; Thomas Pray, Jr., Twenty Years with the Indicator: Being a Practical Text-book for the Engineer or the Student (Boston: American Steam Gauge & Valve Mfg. Co., 1909), 286.

This German silver instrument has a 6-1/2" arm with tracer point and 6-1/2" pole arm. The arm lengths are fixed. The tracer arm and pole arm are connected by a hinge and form a circle around the white plastic measuring wheel, vernier, and registering dial when the instrument is closed. The pole weight is missing. The top of the tracer arm is marked in script: J. Amsler. A serial number is marked underneath the tracer arm and the weight: 67925.

A wooden case is covered with black leather. The corner of a label attached to the bottom of the case is missing. The remaining part reads: SA ROSENHAIN (/) S. Bento, 60 – S. Paulo (/) [illegible] 2. 260$. The symbol has two vertical lines to denote the Brazilian real. The distributor was probably Casa Rosenhain, an importer operated by a German firm, Schmidt & Company, and located adjacent to the Rua São Bento park in São Paulo in the early 20th century. The donor, Sebastian J. Tralongo (1928–2007), served in the U.S. Navy during World War II and then worked for the Vitro Corporation in Rockville, Md., for 35 years. He patented a device for signaling from deeply submerged submarines and assigned the rights to Vitro. He did not report how he came to own a planimeter sold in Brazil.

This instrument is in the design invented by Jacob Amsler (1823–1912) and made by the workshop he founded in Switzerland. The material, rounded hinge, and presence of a registering dial indicate this is a Type 2 of the six versions manufactured by Amsler.(Around 1910 Amsler's firm added a registering dial to the Type 1, but began to make that version from brass instead of German silver.) The serial number and the signature, which the firm began to use after Amsler's death, indicate that this planimeter is significantly younger than MA*318485. Unlike that instrument, the arms on this object are equal in length. Planimeter expert Joachim Fischer dated this object to about 1925. For more information on Amsler, see 1987.0107.10.

This German silver and bronzed brass instrument has an 8" fixed-length pole arm with attached cylindrical weight. The arm is marked in script: Wichmann. An adjustable 9-1/2" tracer arm has a support for the tracer point and is evenly divided by tenths numbered from 5 to 36. The interval for each whole number is 5 mm long. A carriage on the tracer arm has a vernier for the scale on the tracer arm and white plastic measuring wheel, vernier, and registering dial. The carriage is marked with a serial number: 17728. A rectangular German silver test plate is marked for 2, 4, and 6 cm.

A wooden case is covered with black leather and lined with green felt. The top of the case is marked: 1192 Gebr. Wichmann. A loose screw is inside the case. Gebrüder Wichmann (Wichmann Brothers) has sold scientific instruments and office equipment in Berlin since 1873. According to Joachim Fischer, planimeters sold by Wichmann before the 1920s were made by Coradi. Around that time, Wichmann purchased the company founded by Robert Reiss, which thenceforth supplied many of the planimeters sold by Wichmann. It is likely that this example is a Coradi instrument. For a slide rule sold by Wichmann, see MA*293320.2820.

This undated large 8-page booklet is written in German and titled, "Gebrauchsanleitung für Amsler's Planimeter." It describes and depicts nine types of polar planimeter sold by the firm established by Jacob Amsler in Schaffhausen, Switzerland, in 1854. The instructions indicate that Type 1 and Type 2 were distinguished by their materials; Type 1 was made of brass and Type 2 (see MA*318485 and 1984.1071.01) was made of German silver. Similarly, Type 3 (1986.0316.05) was made of brass and Type 4 was made of German silver. The Museum also owns an example of Type 6 (MA*335203). Types 8 and 9 are wheel-and-disc polar planimeters. See 1999.0250.02 for an English translation of the pamphlet.

This instrument has two arms. Made of German silver, the first arm is 9" long, and has a brass and steel tracer point with a support. The arm is evenly divided into tenths and numbered from 5 to 38. (One unit is equivalent to 5mm.) It fits into a brass carriage painted black that has a white plastic measuring wheel, vernier, and registering dial. Screws on the carriage adjust the length of the tracer arm. The carriage is marked: No 20495.

A 9" German silver pole arm fits into a hole in the carriage. Near that end, the arm is evenly divided into tenths and numbered from 30 to 34. The arm fits inside a sliding rectangular tube made of brass painted black (i.e., "bronzed brass"). A cylindrical brass weight is attached to the end of the tube. The tube is marked: G. Coradi, Zürich Switzerland D.P.G.M. Eugene Dietzgen Co. An oblong steel testing plate is marked for 0", 1", 2", and 3". It is also marked: G. Coradi Zürich.

A wooden case is covered with black leather and lined with green velvet. A printed paper chart is pasted inside the case. The chart has columns for Scales, Position of the vernier on the tracer bar, Value of the unit of the vernier on the measuring roller, and Length of the pole-arm for the constant 20,000. The values in the Position and Length columns are handwritten in the same hand that indicates the Coradi firm manufactured this planimeter with serial number 20,495 on January 18, 1913. The date and serial number indicate that this instrument was manufactured before MA*321777. 1977.0112.02 is an instruction manual.

Gottlieb Coradi (1847–1929) began to make wheel and disc polar planimeters in the early 1880s. In 1894, he made the pole arm higher than the tracer arm and connected the arms with a ball joint. This "compensating" planimeter could trace in both the clockwise and counterclockwise directions, preventing errors introduced by planimeters made in the Amsler style. The Eugene Dietzgen Company of Chicago sold Coradi's compensating planimeter from at least 1905 to at least 1931. The version with the adjustable pole arm cost $47.00, which was $11.00 more than the standard version. The model number was changed from 6612 to 1806 between 1910 and 1926. Keuffel & Esser also sold the instrument from 1901 to 1939.